Education
Born in Southport, Lancashire in 1953, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in applied Biology from Liverpool in 1975 and his Doctor of Philosophy in cancer immunology from Sheffield in 1978.
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David Flavell
Edit Profilescientific director senior lecturer
Career
He has held posts at the University of Sheffield (1975-1978), Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand (1978-1979), The University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1979–1983) and the University of Southampton Medical School (1984–2005). In 2014 he was conferred the title of Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University for his contribution to cancer research over his long career. Shortly after the formation of Leukaemia Busters in 1989, he became the charity’s honorary Scientific Director and remained so until 2005 when he retired from his post as Senior Lecturer at the University of Southampton to become full time Scientific Director for the charity.
He has retained an honorary title with the University of Southampton Medical School.
David Flavell’s career in cancer research spans more than 35 years and during this time he has made significant research contributions in a number of areas, most notably the development of a particular class of antibody-based drug termed immunotoxins that are capable of targeting cancer cells in the patients’ body without harming normal tissues. David Flavell also heads The Simon Flavell Leukaemia Research Laboratory at Southampton General Hospital, so named after his ten-year-old son who died with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 1990.
The main thrust of his current research is concerned with the development of the next generation of genetically engineered immunotoxins and devising ways of improving their therapeutic effectiveness and widening their therapeutic window. Over the years, David Flavell has published many original research papers in high ranking international medical journals and as chapters in various academic book titles.
He continues to collaborate with scientists in Italy, Germany, Thailand and the United States of America in pursuit of his research objective of devising improved treatments for patients with currently incurable forms of leukaemia and lymphoma.
David Flavell has been married to Doctor Sopsamorn (Bee) Flavell since 1978 with whom he has worked in medical research almost continuously since 1975. They have two daughters and live in Hampshire.
Membership
He became a member of The Royal Society of Pathologists in 1997 and later a Fellow of the same Royal Society in 2004.
